KATHMANDU, July 16: Authorities in the Chitwan district of Nepal are coordinating with officials from bordering Indian districts to locate the bodies of those missing in the mudslide accident involving two buses that were swept into the swollen Trishuli River last week.
Despite continuous searches since last Friday, only 15 bodies have been retrieved so far.
As many as 36 bodies are still missing after the accident in the Simaltal area of Chitwan.
Out of seven Indian nationals, who went missing following the incident, only three bodies have so far been recovered. Six bodies recovered from the site are yet to be identified, an official said.
Deputy chief district officer Chiranjivi Sharma said the authorities were contacting the Indian side for coordination in the search operation. “We believe the flooded river might have taken the bodies to the Indian side,” Sharma told PTI.
Sharma said they were coordinating with the district magistrates of West Champaran in Bihar and Maharajgunj in Uttar Pradesh for searching the Nepal-India border area.
The Nepalese authorities have mobilised around 500 security personnel, including the Nepal Army and Armed Police Force along with a dozen expert deep divers, for the rescue works.
There has however been very little progress in the search operation, Sharma said.
The authorities have also used high-quality sonar cameras, powerful magnets and water drones to assist in the rescue works.
The two buses were on the key highway connecting Nepal’s capital to southern parts of the country when they swept away Friday morning near Simaltal, about 120 kilometres west of Kathmandu. The bodies were washed away down the Trishuli River as far as 100 kilometres.
Nepal’s rivers are generally fast-flowing due to the mountainous terrain. Heavy monsoon downpours in the past few days have swollen the waterways and turned them murky brown, making it even more difficult to see the wreckage.
Monsoon season brings heavy rains to Nepal from June to September, often triggering landslides in the mountainous Himalayan country. (PTI)
